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No appetite in Ireland for federal EU state – Carthy

The Sinn Féin Midlands North West EU election candidate, Matt Carthy, has said that there is no appetite in Ireland for a federal EU state.

Carthy was reacting to comments made by EU Commission Vice President Vivienne Reding at Cambridge University on Monday (17th February) predicting that the Eurozone will become a federal EU state.

Carthy said

“Comments by EU Vice President Vivienne Reding that the Eurozone will become a federal state further highlight the urgency to elect MEPs who will reflect the real position of the Irish people on these issues.

“Euro federalists are pushing hard to change the nature of the European Union and the Eurozone. I don’t believe there is any appetite in Ireland for a federal EU state.

“The percentage of those opposed to EU treaties has been growing in all recent referenda. People are becoming increasingly concerned about the loss of sovereignty and the direction the EU is taking. This is the case in Ireland and elsewhere as seen from the rejection of the proposed EU constitution in France and the Netherlands in 2005. Vice President Reding’s comments will increase these concerns.

“Reding’s remarks citing the commission’s new powers were telling when she said ‘a few years ago no one could have imagined member states being prepared to cede this amount of sovereignty’. Unfortunately Irish governments, supported by all the MEPs from the Midlands North West constituency, were to the forefront in endorsing this moving of powers further away from Irish communities.

“The views of the significant proportion of Irish voters concerned with the direction of the EU are neither reflected by our MEPs nor our government. I believe that the Irish people are best placed to make decisions on the issues that affect our day to day lives.

“Speaking to people across the Midlands North West constituency I get a sense that people support the concept of a European Union of equal states working together on matters of mutual concern. Instead we have a clear democratic deficit at the heart of EU project, with direction of the EU being increasingly driven by bureaucrats and unelected officials.

“The comments of French president Francois Hollande this week where he stated that ‘initiatives for Europe must first be agreed between France and Germany’ clearly show where the larger nations see member states such as Ireland in the pecking order of EU decision-making processes.

“It is time to oppose the handing over of more power to the EU and start a discussion about the creation of a fairer, more democratic Europe. It is time to elect MEPs who will defend the interests of the Irish people and will not be yes men or women for EU federalists such as Vice President Reding or the current MEPs for the Midlands North West.”